Establishment of message context in a collaboration system

ABSTRACT

A processing device used to support communications between users of the collaboration system is provided with a graphical user interface. A graphical context activation mechanism associated with a discussion between users of the collaboration system may be displayed. Responsive to a selection input, a graphical illustration of information regarding the users participating in the discussion is displayed. The graphical illustration may comprise indicia of location of at least one of the users that may be displayed, for example, within the context of a geographical map. The graphical illustration may further comprise indicia of identity of at least one of the users. Additionally, a textual context activation mechanism may be provided and utilized in the same manner, thereby allowing text-based context regarding the message to be displayed. In this manner, team-wide context may be more readily established.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is related to co-pending applications having Ser.Nos. 11/686,708 and 11/686,736 filed on even date herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to techniques for fostering acollaborative environment and, in particular, to a collaboration systemthat provides improved capture, distribution and maintenance ofcommunications and contexts therefore.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the advent of more powerful communication technologies, the use ofcross-border collaborative project teams has increased. For example, itis not uncommon in the software development industry to have teams ofdevelopers and management spread across the globe. While suchcollaborative project teams typically enjoy the benefit of being able todraw upon efficient resources, the remoteness between team members cangive rise to significant challenges that may significantly undercut, orentirely overwhelm, the efficiencies gained.

For example, where the project at hand comprises complex work involvinga significant need for interaction between team members, remotecollaborators that are not co-located with project management often havea difficult time establishing contextual knowledge relevant to theproject. For example, on a software development project, a developer inIndia may not fully appreciate the project requirements worked outthrough face-to-face meetings with the customer by U.S.-based projectmanagers. On the other hand, a project manager may not be able toquickly appreciate the subtleties of a technological issue encounteredby the development team without significantly interacting with thedevelopers. Such inefficiencies can be compounded by the fact thatdifferent team members may have different levels of experience andknowledge, thereby making it difficult to maintain quality.Additionally, differences in time zones between team members may createsubstantial lags in response time when critical issues arise, andprovide a limited amount of time in which multiple team members mayconference together. Further still, differences in culture or languagemay create difficulties when trying to understand implied instructionsfrom team management.

Prior art solutions to such collaboration difficulties tend to be ad hocapproaches using existing, disparate content repositories andcommunication and tracking tools. For example, project team members mayattempt to use emails as the primary channel for communicating issues asthey arise or to use issue tracking software to maintain historicalcontext regarding how such issues were addressed. While such tools areindividually suited for the particular tasks for which they aredesigned, collectively, they typically are unable to provide thenecessary level of structure and support to maximize efficiency of thecollaboration team. Further, existing tools that may contain workflowfunctionality to formalize and structure standard types ofcommunication, e.g., issue tracking, risk management, documentversioning, do not account for informal communications that arenecessary to perform collaborative work. Stated another way, therecurrently are no systems or tools that provide coordinated operationbetween such separate collaboration tools. A consequence of thisshortcoming is a lack of context. As used herein ‘context’ comprises anyinformation that provides greater understanding of the subject matter ofa given communication or deliverable artifact, such as a document orportion of code, beyond the actual content of the item, e.g., historicalinformation concerning a specific issue, identification of specificparties having an interest in the specific subject matter,classification of the subject matter, etc. Such context incommunications between team members typically ensures more meaningfulcommunications, e.g., the difference between awareness of the content ofa communication and a true understanding of the implications of suchcontent. Therefore, a collaboration system or suite of tools thatovercome these problems would represent an advancement in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior artdescribed above through the use of an integrated collaboration system.The collaboration system in accordance with the present invention drawsupon three guiding principles in its structure and operation. First, itis necessary to organize communication channels between collaborationteam members. Second, it is necessary to build context aroundcommunications between team members. Third, wherever possible,relationships between collaborators should be enhanced. To this end, thecollaboration system of the present invention provides variouscomponents that allow currently-used communication channels, e.g.,electronic mail, instant messaging, etc., and content formats, e.g.,text, audio, images, video, etc., to be organized such that contextualinformation surrounding messages sent within the system is more readilycaptured and used to organize the messages.

Thus, in one aspect of the inventive collaboration system, a processingdevice (e.g., a user terminal) used to support communications betweenusers of the collaboration system is provided with a graphical userinterface, i.e., a display and at least one user input device. Agraphical context activation mechanism associated with a discussionbetween users of the collaboration system may be displayed. A selectioninput may be received in response to selection of the graphical contextactivation mechanism via the at least one user input device. Responsiveto the selection input, a graphical illustration of informationregarding the users participating in the discussion is displayed. In apresently preferred embodiment, the graphical illustration may compriseindicia of location of at least one of the users that may be displayed,for example, within the context of a geographical map. The graphicalillustration may further comprise indicia of identity of at least one ofthe users, for example, visual depictions of such users. Additionally, atextual context activation mechanism may be provided and utilized in thesame manner, thereby allowing text-based context regarding the messageto be displayed such as at least a portion of the discussion, i.e.,other messages. Individual discussions, each optionally comprising anurgency indicator, may be individually selected for further display. Inthis manner, team-wide context and participation may be more readilyestablished, thereby fostering better understanding between team membersand, consequently, more efficient collaboration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention are set forth with particularityin the appended claims. The invention itself, together with furtherfeatures and attended advantages, will become apparent fromconsideration of the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. One or more embodiments ofthe present invention are now described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanied drawings wherein like reference numeralsrepresent like elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional illustration of a collaboration system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a collaboration system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a user terminal inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a controller inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a distribution process in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate various features of a user interface inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of an email interface in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of an email input interface in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a media capture input interface inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating operation of a user terminal inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is an illustration of a user interface depicting variousfeatures used to provide context in accordance with the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, a collaboration system 100 in accordance withthe present invention is functionally illustrated. The collaborationsystem 100 is essentially a communication system that is enhanced withfeatures that provide greater support to collaborative teams thancurrently available. In particular, the system 100 comprises one or moreuser interface components 102-108 and one or more back-end components120, 122 communicating with each other via at least one communicationchannel 130. In a presently preferred embodiment, each of the interfacecomponents 102-108 and each of the back-end components 120, 122 areimplemented using known software programming techniques. Using suchtechniques, suitable processing devices (such as desktop/laptop/handheldcomputers, mobile communication devices such as cellular phones,personal digital assistants, one or more server computers, etc.) mayoperate under the control of executable instructions to carry out thevarious functions described herein. However, those having skill in theart will appreciate that various other techniques may be equallyemployed, in whole or in part, to implement the operations of thepresent invention including, but not limited to, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic arrays implementingstate machines, etc.

Generally, the interface components 102-108 serve as a mechanism for auser of the system 100 to generate communications for distribution toother users of the system 100 while providing greater ability togenerate, preserve and use contextual information that fosters greaterunderstanding among collaborators. For example, the interface componentsmay include a dashboard 102 that serves as a central portal foraccessing the various features of the collaboration system. In apresently preferred embodiment, the dashboard 102 is implemented as aweb-based, graphical interface, using techniques known to those havingskill in the art. Using the dashboard 102, a user of the system mayaccess, create, and manage any communications that he/she generates orreceives, control a profile of the user maintained by the system, accesssuch profiles of other collaborators and access and manage variouscontent or media files generated/received by the user.

A communication template 104 serves as a standardized interface for thegeneration of one or more types of communications and correspondingmetadata. Preferably, the communication template 104 is based on one ormore existing, software-based communication applications, such asMicrosoft's “OUTLOOK” email application. As described in greater detailbelow, the metadata captured in this manner is preferably based on aplurality of standardized metadata attributes that are defined inaccordance with the particular needs of the collaborative project. Forexample, a software development team may have one set of metadataattributes that would be most useful, whereas an industrialmanufacturing team may have another set of metadata attributes thatwould be most useful. The one or more communication types supported bythe communication template 104 may be any commonly used types such asemail, instant messaging, short message service (SMS), etc. To supportsuch different services, the communication template 104 may comprisemultiple templates, one for each communication type, but each stillimplementing the standardized metadata attributes. Techniques forimplementing one or more templates of this type are well known to thosehaving ordinary skill in the art. Such multiple templates, if used,could be provided with a common user interface or maintained asseparately usable entities. Regardless, the standardized nature of thetemplates ensures that users are triggered to provide the most importantrelevant information for each type of communication.

Recognizing that the most convenient point for generating certaincommunications may be within particular tools used by the variouscollaborators, the present invention also provides for the integrationof communication interfaces into such tools. In the specific case ofsuch tools that are implemented as software programs, a plug-incomponent 106 may be provided. As known in the art, a so-called“plug-in” is a discrete software program implementing additionalfunctions that may be readily integrated into an existing softwareprogram using a standardized interface. In the context, for example, ofa software development project, such a plug-in implements an interfaceallowing a user to access and generate messages in a manner similar tothe communication template 104, but within an integrated developmentenvironment program in which developers are performing softwaredevelopment tasks. Those having skill in the art will appreciate thatimplementations other than plug-in programs may be equally employed forthis purpose.

Finally, the user interface components also comprise a multi-mediacapture agent 108 used to generate content files by users of thecollaboration system 100. For example, the capture agent 108 may beimplemented using Microsoft's “WINDOWS” Media Encoder application. Asused herein, a content file may comprise data or information representedin any human-perceivable (preferably, digitally reproducible) form suchas text, audio recordings, image recordings, video recordings orcombinations thereof represented in any of a number of well-knownformats. As such, multiple capture agents, such as those known to theskilled artisan, may be equally employed. As described in greater detailbelow, the content files generated by the capture agent 108, which ispreferably integrated with the dashboard 102 or that may operate as astand-alone component, may be associated with messages created withinthe system 100 either concurrently with or subsequent to generation ofsuch messages. Additionally, in one embodiment, an interface, such asthat illustrated in FIG. 11 and described in further detail below, maybe used to automate the creation of the standardized metadata for usewith content files created using the capture agent 108.

Generally, the back-end components 120, 122 operate to managecommunications and content files generated by users of the collaborationsystem 100, including association of messages based on correspondingmetadata values and distribution of messages to various users (viacorresponding user terminals) of the system 100. To this end, acommunication consolidation component 120 is provided to establish andmaintain the associations between the various communications (and, wherenecessary, content files). In the context of the present invention, an“association” between communications alludes to the circumstance inwhich messages concern related subject matter and may therefore beconnected in some manner to maintain context. In a presently preferredembodiment, such association is carried out through establishment of alogical link, such as a pointer, between stored messages. As describedbelow, the consolidation agent 120 ascertains when to establish suchassociations based on correspondence of metadata appended to themessages. Associations between messages are established in variousmanners known to those having ordinary skill in the art. For example, inone presently preferred implementation, messages sent within the systemare treated as records in a database. Links between such records areestablished using a technique known as polymorphic association. In thiscase, all records in the database are associated via foreign keys(pointers). More specifically, messages are sent to recipients (users,workgroups, focus areas) via a polymorphic relationship—thecommunication consolidation component 120 tracks the message primary key(an identification) as well as the primary key for the recipient(another identification) and the type of recipient. It then retrievesmessages sent to the current user as well as the workgroups/focus areasthat the user belongs to, by default. Similarly, responses to a messageare associated via foreign key relationships to other messages.Reference links are simply stored as text in the database record for themessage. Likewise, media or content files are related via many-to-manyrelationships between messages and media files.

In one embodiment, the communication distribution agent 122 operates toroute messages to users of the system 100 based on an interest in thesubject matter at hand and/or that are the direct, intended recipientsof each message. For example, in the context of a software developmentteam, a given manager may send messages concerning “bugs” that ariseduring development in the software to a group of recipients that have ininterest in the subject of “bugs” to the extent that they are impactedby, or may have an impact upon, the subject matter thereof.Additionally, or alternatively, the manager may wish to send themessages specifically to one or more selected recipients. To facilitatesuch groups (or work groups), individual users of the system may“subscribe” (or, alternatively, be “subscribed” by an initiator of amessage) to receive communications concerning certain subject matterintended for a recipient group as indicated by the metadata associatedwith each communication. In a more specific implementation, users mayinstead subscribe to specific discussions or topics. In this manner, thepresent invention provides the ability to automatically build greaterteam awareness with minimal additional burden on individual teammembers. Techniques for allowing users to subscribe to work groups, andfor managing such work groups, are well known in the art.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a communication system200 that may be used to implement the collaboration system 100 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Generally, thesystem 200 comprises a plurality of user terminals 202 in communicationwith each other and a controller 204 via one or more communicationchannels 206. In a presently preferred embodiment, each of the userterminals 202 comprises a processor-based device such as a computer (orother device) comprising one or more processors 209 in communicationwith at least one storage component 210. The processor(s) 209 maycomprise microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,etc. or combinations thereof operating under the control of executableinstructions stored in the storage component(s) 210. The storagecomponent(s) 210 may comprise any combination of volatile/non-volatilememory components such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory(RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),etc. The executable instructions stored in the storage component(s) 210may be particularly used to implement processing as described in greaterdetail below. However, as known in the art, the user terminals 202 maybe implemented, in whole or in part, using other components such asASICs, programmable logic arrays, etc. that may operate under softwareor hardware control.

As further illustrated, each user terminal 202 preferably comprises adisplay 211 in communication with the processor(s) 209. As known in theart, the display 211 may comprise an integral or external display suchas a cathode-ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), lightemitting diode (LED) display, etc. Techniques for providing display datato a display are well known in the art. In a similar vein, the userterminals 202 preferably include user input/output components 212 aswell as one or more communication interfaces 213. The I/O components 212may comprise any user input device or mechanism that allows a user ofthe user terminal 202 to interact therewith, e.g., a mouse, keyboard,microphone, video and/or still image camera, speaker, etc. Thecommunication interface(s) 213 support the use of the one or morecommunication channels 206 and typically comprise any combination ofhardware and/or software elements necessary to terminate physical links(e.g., Ethernet, wireless, etc.) or communication protocols (e.g., HTTP,SOAP, SSL, TCP/IP, etc.). Techniques for implementing the interface(s)213 are well known to those having skill in the art.

As noted above, the communication channels 206 may comprise any one orcombination of wired or wireless communication channels, depending onthe capabilities of the terminals 202 and/or controller 204.Additionally, the communication channels 206 are further defined by thetype of communications supported thereby. For example, emailcommunications, voice communications, instant messaging (IM)communications, SMS communications, multimedia messaging service (MMS)communications, etc. may all be supported by different types ofcommunication channels, as known to those of skill in the art. A benefitof the present invention is that the metadata provided in accordanceherein allows the collaboration system to organize communicationsregardless of the underlying type of communication channels employed.

As shown, the controller 204 preferably comprises a processor-baseddevice comprising at least one processor 214 and at least one storagecomponent 216 as described above with regard to the user terminals 202.In a presently preferred embodiment, the controller 204 is implementedusing one or more server computers as known in the art. Additionally,the controller 204 is preferably in communication with a database 208that, as known in the art, can also be implanted using one or moreserver computers. Generally, the controller 204 implements thefunctionality described above relative to the back-end components 120,122 whereas the database 208 stores the data (i.e., messages, contentfiles, links therebetween, etc.) sent between user of the system 200.

An implementation of a collaboration system 300 showing additionaldetail regarding implementation of the back-end is further illustratedwith regard to FIG. 3. In particular, the collaboration system 300 asshown includes a plurality of user interfaces 301 (only one shown) incommunication with the back-end 303. Preferably, the user interface 301is implemented via the user terminals 202 and carrying out the functionof the interface components 102-108 described above. The system 300illustrated in FIG. 3 is particularly adapted for use in conjunctionwith software development, although the present invention is not limitedto this particular application. Regardless, as illustrated, the userinterface 301 includes a development environment plug-in 302, a webinterface 304, an email toolbar and interface 306, an instant messaging(IM) or chat interface 307 and a stand-alone media capture interface 308each operating in conjunction with a metadata generator 309. As known inthe art, the development environment plug-in 302 may comprise a plug-insuitable for communicating and operating with a suitable softwaredevelopment program, such as the “ECLIPSE” integrated developmentenvironment software program. In general, the plug-in 302 implementssubstantially similar functionality as the web interface 304, emailtoolbar interface 306, IM interface 307 or any other interface thatprovides the ability to generate messages, as described below. The webinterface 304 preferably implements the functions of the dashboard 102,described in greater detail below. Similarly, the email interface 306and/or IM/chat interface 307 preferably implement(s) the functions ofthe communication template 104, also described in greater detail below.The stand-alone media capture interface preferably implements thefunctions of the multi-media capture agent 108, described in greaterdetail below.

The metadata generator 309 operates in conjunction with the various userinterface components 302-308 to generate metadata values in accordancewith standardized metadata attributes. For example, the metadatagenerator 309 may receive user selections corresponding to predefinedmetadata input values, or may comprise received data entered via auser-definable metadata value input field, as described below withfurther reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Additionally the metadata generator309, using known techniques, may populate predefined metadata inputfields based on variables known to the system such as date, time, useridentification, communication type, etc. Alternatively, moresophisticated techniques can be used to implement the metadata generator309, particularly techniques that allow metadata to be automaticallygenerated based on analysis of the messages created via the variousinterfaces 302-308. For example, in the case of communications employinga text format, individual communications can be scanned by the metadatagenerator 309, using known text parsing techniques, to identify keywords that may be used as the metadata. Further still, although themetadata generator 309 is illustrated as a single element in FIG. 3(reflective of the standardized nature of the metadata generatedthereby), in implementation, using techniques known to those of skill inthe art, it may be preferable to provide separate components for each ofthe various user interface components 302-308. Regardless of itsimplementation, the metadata generator 309 provides metadata values foreach communication (message) provided to the back end 303. Through theuse of such standardized metadata attributes and values, the presentinvention is able to create associations between disparate communicationchannels, thereby creating valuable context to such communications.

As shown, the back end 303 preferably comprises a plurality of servercomputers 310-320 arranged in a suitable network configuration, a fairlytypical example of which is illustrated in FIG. 3. Suitable servercomputers for implementing the functions of each of the servers 310-320described below, as well as modifications to the network configuration,are well known in the art of database-backed dynamic web applications.In a presently preferred embodiment, additional implementationtechniques are employed, such as using a cluster of virtual servers toimplement the application web server 312, or the use of multipleclusters of servers per project collaboration team. Other refinementsmay be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art. Typically,each of the servers 310-320 communicates with each other and/or withuser terminals via a suitable communication protocol, such as TCP/IP. Inthe embodiment shown, a proxy server 310 is provided as the interface tothe back end 303. In accordance with known techniques, the proxy server310 provides users of the system 300 indirect access to the services andresources made available by the other back end servers. In theillustrated configuration, the proxy server 310 is in communication withan application web server 312. In a presently preferred embodiment, thecombination of the proxy server 310 and the application web server 312implements the functions of the controller 204 (i.e., the back-endcomponents 120, 122 described above and in further detail below). Theapplication web server 312 is in communication with a database server314 that stores one or more project profiles, user profiles andcommunication preferences, identifications of work groups andrelated/subscribed users, message content, metadata for messages andcontent files, pointers to content files and the linking informationbetween messages. As known in the art, the email server 316 supportscommunications between user terminals using an email communicationprogram. More particularly, email communications originating from agiven user's terminal (and corresponding interface 301) are firstprocessed by the proxy and web application servers 310, 312 (asdescribed below). Thereafter, such communications can be sent to theintended recipients (e.g., workgroups and/or specific users) via theemail server 316 using well known techniques.

The additional servers illustrated comprise an active directory server318 in communication with the application web server 312. As known inthe art, the active directory server 318 allows one or more systemadministrators to control configuration/operation of the variouscomponents within the system 300, including the user terminals. Asoftware development server 320 is also shown in communication with theapplication web server 312. In the context of software developmentprojects, the software development server 320 may implement a suitableworkflow automation tool such as IBM's “RATIONAL” “CLEARQUEST” program.Of course, other servers running applications appropriate for use ondifferent types of collaborative projects may be equally incorporated,using known techniques, as dictated by the particular needs of suchprojects.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a flowchart illustrating operation of a userterminal in accordance with the present invention is shown. As notedpreviously, the operations illustrated in FIG. 4 are preferablyimplemented using stored, executable instructions that control operationof one or more suitable processors. As shown, the processing of FIG. 4is divided into two separate, parallel paths that may be carried outsubstantially simultaneously or at different times. Thus, along a firstpath, processing begins at block 402 where a first message is created bya user of the terminal using a message creation component. As known inthe art, a message can be created in any of number of ways depending onthe format of the message to be created. For example, an email messagecan be created through the use of a suitable email program, such asMicrosoft's “OUTLOOK” email program, by typing the message using akeyboard. Similarly, an instant messaging program may be used to createan instant message or the dashboard 102/web interface 304 may be used tocreate a new message, as described below. Regardless of the manner inwhich the first message is created, processing continues at block 404where a first plurality of metadata values are appended to the firstmessage. As used herein, appending metadata to a message encompassesinclusion of the metadata in the message itself. For example, themetadata may be transmitted within the same electronic message“envelope” as the message content itself, or may be directly embedded inthe message content. Alternatively, the metadata may be storedseparately from the message content and “appended” by virtue of alogical link (e.g., pointer values to physical storage locations)between the two. As noted previously, the metadata values correspond toat least some of a plurality of metadata attributes that have beenstandardized in accordance with the needs of the users of the system.For example, in a software development environment, such standardizedmetadata attributes may be categorized by type of communication beingsubmitted (e.g., regarding a problem found, asking a question concerningrequirements, making an announcement, etc.); by the groups potentiallyimpacted by the communication (e.g., the development group, management,the testing group, etc.); by relevant references (e.g., links to othersystems or other users within the system); and/or by status (e.g.,priority, urgency, state of completion, etc.) Additional systemgenerated metadata may include the date and timestamp of messagecreation or modification, the user creating or modifying the message.Once again, the particular standardized metadata attributes are notnecessarily limited to those described herein, and may be particularlyselected according to the needs of a particular project.

Thereafter, at blocks 406 and 408, the processing described aboverelative to blocks 402 and 404 may be respectively repeated for thecreation of a second message and appending of a second plurality ofmetadata values. Note that the first and second messages do not have tobe created by the same message creation component nor do they have to becommunicated by the same communication channel. So long as they bothhave their standardized metadata values appended thereto, the fact thatthey have been created using different message types (e.g., email,instant messaging, web interface, plug-in interface, etc.) will notaffect the ability of the instant collaboration system to establishcontext between the two messages. That is, assuming the first and secondmessage are related in some fashion, the first and second pluralities ofmetadata values should compare favorably such that the first and secondmessage may be subsequently associated together.

In parallel with the first path described above, the second pathillustrated in FIG. 4 begins at block 410 where a user creates a contentfile. As noted above, various tools may be employed to create a contentfile depending on the format of the content file to be created, i.e.,text, audio, images, video, combinations thereof, etc. Additionally, thecontent file may be created well before or after or substantially at thesame time as a message with which it is subsequently associated. Asnoted previously, corresponding standardized metadata values arepreferably appended to content files when such content files are addedto the collaboration system, i.e., when the content files are created oruploaded. To this end, a suitable interface may be provided to ensureuniform capture of the standardized metadata, an example of which isfurther illustrated in FIG. 11.

As shown in FIG. 11, the interface 1100 comprises a number of user inputmechanisms (e.g., text boxes, drop down menus, etc.) that allow a userto enter metadata input values. Note that the examples illustrated inFIG. 11 are not intended to be exhaustive of such input mechanisms orthe types of metadata that may be captured. In the illustrated example,a text box 1102 is provided for capturing a subject indicator, e.g., thesubject matter to which the content file relates. In a similar vein, adetails text box 1104 is provided to capture additional informationconcerning the content file. That is, the details text box 1104 isintended to be freeform, allowing users to provide information/metadatathat would be useful to viewers. For example, in a software developmentproject, a user may use this functionality to walk the viewer through afunctional problem via a screencast (i.e., a digital recording ofcomputer screen output, often containing audio narration), where thetext box 1104 might be utilized to provide prerequisite steps. A dropdown menu 1106 is provided as a means for selecting a work group. Inthis implementation, the drop down menu 1106 provides a predefined listof available work groups (e.g., in the context of a software developmentproject, a Project Management group, Technical Architecture group,Requirements group, Application Design group, Development group, Testinggroup, Communications group, Deployment group, etc.). A reference linktext box 1108 allows a user to enter, in this example, a website addressof a website that includes additional relevant information. Of course,other types of addresses (e.g., internal network addresses, etc.) couldbe equally employed. Further still, a discussion pull down menu 1110 isprovided that allows a user to select a particular discussion (asdescribed below) to associate the content file with. In this instance, alist of discussions are maintained (for example, by the controller 204),which list is used to populate the populate the various pull down menuselections. Finally, suitable buttons are provided that allow a user toaccept his/her selections 1112 or discard (cancel) 1114 them inaccordance with well known user interface paradigms.

The content file created at block 410 is preferably stored at acentralized location, e.g., at the web application server 312, althoughit is understood that any suitable storage means in virtually anylocation may be used for this purpose. When being stored, the contentfiles may be uploaded automatically (after being created locally at auser terminal) when the file is created through the system applications,e.g., the media capture agent 308, or created locally by the user in anapplication external to the system and uploaded, e.g., to the web server312, at a later time through the dashboard 102. Regardless, at block412, the content file thus created and stored may be associated with amessage, such as a message created in accordance with blocks 402-408 asdescribed previously. Once again, the association of the content filemay be carried out through actual co-storage of the message and thecontent file, or, in a presently preferred embodiment, via logical linksbetween the two (which links are preferably stored, along with themetadata in the database 314). Also, the step of associating the contentfile with the message may occur substantially simultaneously with or atanytime after creation of the message. For example, as described belowrelative to FIGS. 8 and 10, either the dashboard 102 or communicationtemplate 104 may be used to associate the content file with the message.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flowchart illustrating operation of acontroller in accordance with the present invention is shown. As notedabove, the operations illustrated in FIG. 5 may be implemented usingstored, executable instructions that control operation of one or moresuitable processors. Beginning at block 502, the controller receivesfirst and second messages from user terminals. Both the first and secondmessages have metadata appended thereto as described above. Note thatthe first and second messages may be received at the controller within arelatively short period of time or at substantially different times,e.g., weeks or even months apart. In order to determine whether thefirst and second messages should be associated with one another, acomparison of their respective metadata values is undertaken at block504. As known to those having skill in the art, a variety of techniquesfor comparing metadata values with each other are available and furtherdescription here is not necessary. More importantly, whether the twomessages should be associated with each other depends on the relativefavorability of the comparison performed at block 504. The standard forassessing such favorability is a matter of design choice. For example,in a presently preferred embodiment, substantially identical metadatavalues (of at least a subset of the possible standardized metadataattributes) are required. More specifically, it is currently preferredto find a favorable comparison when a given message is a reply to aprevious message, hence resulting in virtually identical metadatavalues, or when the metadata values corresponding to work groups areidentical. In this latter vein, association may be proper where arelatively small number of high priority metadata values substantiallymatch. For example, two emails having different creation times andshowing different “subject” lines may nevertheless be properlyassociated together if they have the same author and recipients andcontain one or more identical keywords. The present invention is notnecessarily limited by the nature of the test used to determine theexistence of a favorable comparison.

If the comparison of block 504 is favorable, the first and secondmessages are associated with each other at block 506. As noted above,this is may be accomplished by establishing one or more logical links orpointers (e.g., through the use of foreign keys) between the messages.For example, each message could include a pointer to the physicallocation in storage of the other message. References to otherdiscussions (i.e., threads of messages) may likewise be associated viaappropriate pointers. In the above-mentioned case of reply messages,such pointers are not necessary as known to those of skill in the art.After establishment of the association at block 506 (regardless of howits implemented), or if the comparison at block 504 was unfavorable,processing may continue at block 508 where it is determined whether acontent file has been received by the controller. The manner in whichthe content file is received may vary, including directly receiving thecontent file as in the case of an included email attachment, orindirectly as in the case of receiving a reference (e.g., a pointer) tothe content file within the centralized, back end storage (e.g., the webapplication server 312) or in a local user terminal. In a presentlypreferred embodiment, the dashboard 102 may be used at a user terminalto manipulate graphical representations of content files and therebyassociate them with specific messages. Regardless of the manner in whichthe controller receives the content files, processing thereaftercontinues at block 510 where the content file is associated with amessage. Those of skill in the art will recognize that individualcontent files could be associated with more than one message. Onceagain, such one-to-one or one-to-many association may be accomplishedthrough the use of pointers to storage locations. Other techniques maybe used as a matter of design choice.

In another aspect of the present invention, the distribution of messagesis controlled, at least in part, by the particular members of a groupdesignated to receive the messages, the preferred communication channelsof such members and the workload of each recipient. An example of such aprocess in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment isillustrated in FIG. 6. Once again, the processing illustrated in FIG. 6is preferably implemented using appropriately programmed processors ofthe types described above, both within the user interface 301 and backend 303. As illustrated, the various processing blocks 602-634 may begenerally grouped into three distinct groups. In a first group,comprising blocks 602-606, information concerning availability andpreferred communication channels of a user is managed. In a secondgroup, comprising blocks 608-610, initiation of discussions, asdescribed below, is provided. Finally, in the third group comprisingblocks 612-634, distribution of specific messages, including delivery tospecifically designated recipients is further illustrated.

Beginning at block 602, a user of the system may provide any necessaryinformation to configure a particular contact type, i.e., communicationchannel. That is, in a presently preferred embodiment, a user candesignate specific communication channels to be used to contact thatuser in accordance with rules or preferences of the user's own design.In a preferred embodiment, the dashboard 102/web interface 304 is usedfor this purpose, as described below. Thus, for example, during normalbusiness hours in which the user does not have previously scheduledappointments, the user may designate that his/her office email accountshould be used to receive incoming messages without any further attemptsto alert the user. Conversely, after normal business hours or duringperiods of time during which the user has previously scheduledappointments, the user may designate that, in addition to routing allincoming messages to his/her email account, a message should also besent to the user's mobile phone via, for example, SMS. Those havingordinary skill in the art will appreciate that known techniques may beused when establishing such rules. Generally, the configurationinformation provided by the user at block 602 may be stored in anysuitable storage device although, in a presently preferred embodiment,it is stored by the database 208.

In parallel, at block 604, scheduling information for the user may beimported into the system, i.e., via the web server 312. In a presentlypreferred embodiment, the scheduling information may compriseinformation taken from an electronic calendar or similar mechanism. Asknown in the art, such scheduling information is indicative of the time,places, etc. of appointments for a given user and may be encoded in aconventional manner. Regardless, at block 606, contact availability forthe user is established based on the imported scheduling informationfrom block 604 when overlaid with the contact rule types established atblock 602. In this manner, the present invention allows users to veryspecifically tailor the communication channels at their disposal totheir personal needs and schedules.

Within the second group of blocks described above, i.e., concerning theinitiation of discussions, processing begins at block 608, where a usermay initiate or respond to a discussion using any of the above describeduser interfaces, e.g., the dashboard 102, communication template 104 orplug-in interface 106. Using known techniques (such as predeterminedpull-down menu entries or the like in a graphical user interface), theuser can elect to create a new discussion or reply to an existingdiscussion. As used herein, a discussion is a thread of associatedmessages (and, possibly, content files, as described above) concerning aparticular topic or subject. The “breadth” of such discussions, i.e.,the size of the group of desired recipients, may be controlled in partthrough the manner in which the discussions are initiated. For example,by initiating a discussion to a specific workgroup, as illustrated atblock 610, a relatively broad audience may be established initially.Alternatively, or in addition, selection of specific, individualrecipients of a discussion allows the creator of a discussion to moreclosely manage its intended audience. Regardless, as described below,the controller 204, when it receives a message to be distributed todesignated recipients and workgroup members, undertakes a two-prongeddelivery process in which it evaluates each recipient's availability forindividual delivery of the message, as well as a general “posting” ofthe message to a discussion thread that is always available via thedashboard 102, as described below.

Within the third group of blocks, i.e., concerning the distribution ofmessages to their designated recipients, processing is once again splitalong two parallel paths. Along the first path, embodied by block 612,all messages (whether the beginning of a discussion or in response to anexisting discussion), are posted to the discussions to which theypertain. In a presently preferred embodiment, this includes publishingthe message as part of a discussion to be displayed on the dashboard102. That is, using the association process described above, the messageis posted as part of a discussion thread based on its association withone or more messages in that thread.

In parallel, and assuming individual recipients of a message weredesignated at block 610, processing proceeds in parallel at block 614where the controller 204 determines availability of recipients of themessage, including individual members of any designated work group, byreference to such recipients' respective scheduling information. If, atblock 616, it is determined that individual recipients are notavailable, processing continues at block 626 where the message is sentvia a default communication channel to such recipients. Such defaultcommunication channel is preferably a relatively ubiquitous,non-intrusive channel type, such as email, although other channels maybe used for this purpose as a matter of design choice.

In one aspect of the present invention, the distribution of messages todesignated recipients may be based, at least in part, upon the workloadsof each designated recipient. This is illustrated at block 618 where theindividual workloads of each selected recipient is determined. In apresently preferred embodiment, individual workloads are assessedthrough reference to status tracking data 620. Status trackinginformation refers to status reports of individual users concerningtheir daily activities including, but not limited to, goals achieved,activities engaged in, etc. as provided by individual users of thesystem. Virtually any method (although preferably automated) forgathering such information may be employed by the present invention. Forexample, a presently preferred technique for generating such statustracking information is disclosed in co-pending U.S. Patent Applicationhaving Ser. No. 11/686,736, filed on even date herewith and incorporatedherein in its entirety. Those having ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that various other techniques for determining the workload ofindividual recipients may also be used with the present invention. Inaccordance with this embodiment, those recipients having a favorableworkload are selected to receive the message. For example, a designatedrecipient having a currently excessive workload may be excluded fromreceiving the message so as to minimize the burden placed on thatparticular user. Conversely, the user, having a currently light workloadmay be selected as a recipient as it is presumed that the user will havethe necessary time to consider the message. Those having skill in theart will appreciate that various techniques may be employed to determinethe favorability of an individual's workload. For example, in oneembodiment, at least three factors are combined to assign each recipientan individual score, including the recipient's activity as indicated bythe specific tasks assigned to the recipient per a project plan as wellas previous messages sent to the recipient. Additionally, task alignmentbetween the subject matter of the message and the designated recipient'sassigned task may also be assessed for this purpose. By combiningmetrics representative of these three factors using known techniques(e.g., total score, average, weighted average, etc.) the individualscores may be assigned and compared to a suitable threshold selected asa matter of design choice. Regardless of the manner in which workload isdetermined and assessed, processing continues at block 622, it isdetermined whether each individual recipient is available based onhis/her workload per block 618.

Thereafter, processing continues at block 624 where it is determined,for each remaining recipient, if the recipient has a communicationpreference for receiving such messages. If not, processing continues atblock 626 where the message is sent via the default communicationchannel as described above. If, however, the recipient has designated apreferred communication channel, processing continues at block 628 wherethe message is sent to each such recipient via his/her preferredchannel.

Regardless whether a given message has been only generally posted as perblock 612, sent via a default channel to as per block 626 or viapreferred channel as per block 628, processing thereafter continues atblock 630. At block 630, it is determined whether a response has beenreceived (by the controller) to the message posted at block 612 or sentat block 626, 628. In one embodiment of the present invention, it may bedesirable to escalate the importance of the message in the event aresponse has not been received to that message, as illustrated at block632. In this context, such escalation may include sending the message toother recipients as indicated by a project plan. For example, theproject plan may include listings of each user's supervisor and thesupervisor's contact information. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the threshold for determining whether to escalate a givenmessage is based, at least in part, upon designations assigned by themessage initiator. For example, a specific period of time for responsemay be assigned, such as “within the next two hours”, etc.Alternatively, specific priorities may be assigned with theunderstanding that higher priority messages are escalated more quicklythan lower priority messages (in accordance, for example, with a definedescalation scheme defined by a project plan). Further still, projectstructure according to the project plan may be employed for targetingspecific, additional recipients. Thus, if escalation is required, themessage could be sent to the supervisors of one or more of theoriginally intended recipients. In the process of selecting suchadditional recipients according to the escalation need, the previouslydescribed process of assessing a recipients availability (i.e.,immediate availability per his/her calendar, work load availability perthe multifactor assessment) may employed. If, on the other hand, aresponse is received at block 630, processing continues at block 634where the status of the discussion to which the message pertained isupdated. For example, such update of status may include closing out thediscussion, raising priority of the discussion, or any other appropriatestatus update.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, an exemplary web application-based userinterface 700 in accordance with the present invention is furtherillustrated. Techniques for implementing such graphical user interfacesare well known to those having ordinary skill in the art. In accordancewith the present invention, the interface 700 is an implementation ofthe dashboard 102 described above, although it is understood that otherimplementations of the dashboard 102 may be equally employed. To thisend, and as shown, the interface 700 comprises a title bar 702 and adisplay window 704 in a manner similar to the desktop interface paradigmused by many computer operating systems. The title bar 702 may include asearch box 706 implemented and operated in a conventional manner, aswell as an account selection and logout mechanisms 708, 710 implementedin this example as textual hyperlinks.

Within the display window 704, a plurality of user selection mechanisms712-722 are illustrated as selectable buttons. In particular, a Recordbutton 712 is provided that may be selected to instantiate one or moremedia capture agents as described above. For example, assuming that theRecord button 712 has been selected, a record window 734 is illustratedhaving displayed therein a further plurality of selectable buttons,including a video recording selector 736 that may be used to instantiatea video recording program, a screen capture selector 738 that may beused to capture an image of a screen on a computer, a screen capture andaudio recording selector 740 that may be used to capture one or morescreen shots while simultaneously recording audio, and an audio selector742 that may be used to initiate audio recording only. Other recordingtypes or combinations of types may be equally employed as a matter ofdesign choice. Start and stop buttons 744, 746 are provided to initiateand terminate recordings after the desired recording mode is selected.

A Discussion button 714 is provided to instantiate a discussion window724 that may be used to view user-selectable discussions (i.e., one ormore associated messages and, possibly, content files) relevant to auser (or a group of which the user is a member). By selection of anindividual discussion item, a window setting forth the relevant messages(and associated content files) may be displayed. In a presentlypreferred embodiment, each item may include a variety of informationincluding a discussion identifier 725 and a discussion type 726. Theidentifier 725, preferably automatically provided by the controllermanaging the discussions, may comprise any indicia that allow adiscussion to be uniquely identified (in the illustrated example, aunique numerical identifier), and the discussion type 726, preferablyuser-configurable, sets forth some attribute value of the discussionuseful for categorizing separate discussions. In the example shown, eachof the discussions is of the “Bug” type, meaning that the discussionconcerns a problem identified in the software being developed by thecollaborative team. Of course, other types may be defined as a matter ofdesign choice. Note that the example in FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate onlythree discussions; in practice, many more discussions (or fewer) may bedisplayed using, for example, a scrolling window. A subject indicator728 allows for a simple, short description of the subject matter of thediscussion. The submitter and date indicators 730, 732 respectivelyindicate the identity of the person that initiated the discussion andthe date on which the discussion was initiated. Finally, priorityindicators 733, which may be associated with corresponding ones of thediscussions, may be provided as a visual indicator of the relativelyimportance or urgency of each discussion. As described below, thepriority of a discussion may be set by the user initiating thediscussion or modified by the initiating user (or, alternatively, otherusers) at a subsequent time using, for example, the correspondingpriority indicator 733 presuming that the indicator 733 is madeuser-selectable and modifiable using known techniques. In a presentlypreferred embodiment, the attributes 725-733 of each discussion may beused to sort and/or filter the displayed discussions in accordance withknown sorting and filtering techniques.

With further reference to FIG. 8, the My Media button 716 is used toinstantiate a media window 802 that allows a user to view informationconcerning one or more media (content) files created or received by thatuser. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the listing for each media filemay include a media file identification 803 that comprises any indiciathat may be used to uniquely identify the corresponding media file. Amedia type indicator 804 is also provided to help identify the type ofmedia used to record the content file, e.g., audio, video, screen image,etc. A subject indicator 806 provides a brief textual description ofeach content file. As before, the submitter and date indicators 808, 810indicate who created the file and when the file was created.

One feature of the present invention is the ability to associate themedia or content files with particular messages or discussions via theweb application interface 700. In particular, so-called “drag-and-drop”functionality may be employed to allow a user to drag a file icon 812using an input selector 811 to a targeted discussion 814 and, by thisaction, cause the media file underlying the file icon 812 to beassociated with the targeted discussion 814. Using known communicationtechniques, this action may cause a message to be sent to the controller204 indicating that the media file is to be associated with thediscussion or message. In this manner, significant context may beestablished for each given discussion, thereby allowing team members todevelop better understanding of the communications being exchanged.

In addition to the buttons 712-716 described above, a People button 718may be provided thereby allowing a user to view or search a listing ofother collaborators using the collaboration system. Using this mechanismto identify specific collaborators, profiles of each selectedcollaborator may be viewed to view current profile information. Forexample, such profiles may include a picture of the collaborator,contact information (including preferred contact modalities), titles,work locations, group memberships, time zone information and presenceinformation (e.g., currently logged in, busy, etc.) of eachcollaborator. In this manner, individual collaborators may quickly learnabout each other. A Search button 720 provides an alternate method toaccess search functionality and the My Profile button 722 allows eachuser to update his/her own personal profile information, which mayinclude designations of what types of profile information may be viewedby different entities, e.g., certain key personnel may be allowed toview a manager's home contact information whereas other personnel may berestricted from viewing such information. In accordance with blocks 602and 604 described above relative to FIG. 6, the My Profile button 722may be used to invoke the necessary user interface(s) (as known in theart) to manage/edit communication channel preferences and rulesregarding same, as well as the user's scheduling information.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an implementation of a communication toolbar isillustrated in the form of an exemplary email interface 902. Inparticular, the email interface 902 is based on the familiar Microsoft“OUTLOOK” email program interface and includes a title bar 904, a menubar 906 comprising the typical email menu items and one or more toolbars908, 910, and a display window 912 (in this case, displaying a user's“Inbox”) as known in the art. Additionally, a user input mechanism 914is provided (in this case, in the form of a pull down menu) that allowsa user to select one of a plurality of selectable predefined metadatainput values 916. As known to those having skill in the art,user-selectable input mechanism 914, rather than providing a predefinedlist of potential metadata values 916, may instead comprise auser-definable metadata value input mechanism such as a blank text box.Additionally, although a single input mechanism 914 is illustrated inFIG. 9, it may be desirable to include a plurality of such mechanisms(either identical or different in operation) to accommodate thepossibility of entering multiple metadata values. This is furtherillustrated with respect to FIG. 10.

FIG. 10 illustrates a message window 1002 that may be instantiated inresponse to selection of the “ask a question” metadata value 916illustrated in FIG. 9. As shown, the message window 1002 includes thefamiliar menu bar 1004 and message editing window 1024 employed by manyemail programs. A control bar 1006 is provided that sets forth varioususer-selectable control buttons including a send button 1008 and fileattachment button 1010, which may be used to append content or mediafiles to the message, as known in the art. In furtherance of thecreation of metadata, a workgroup button 1012 and a focus area button1014 are also preferably provided. The workgroup button 1012 allows auser to select from a list of predefined workgroups, e.g., ProjectManagement, Technical Architecture, Requirements, Application Design,Development, Testing, Communications, Deployment, etc. that reflect theparticular organization of the collaborative team, with each possibleselection comprising a potential metadata value. In a similar vein, thefocus areas button 1014 may allow further definition of relevantentities within each workgroup as designated by particular functionswithin each workgroup, or particular issues that are typicallyassociated with a given workgroup. In a presently preferred embodiment,both the workgroup and focus area entries may be defined as a set ofcustomized values. In this manner, useful, context-building metadataconcerning the message may be captured and stored for use as describedabove.

Further metadata input mechanisms are illustrated in the form ofaddressing inputs 1016 comprising the familiar data entry fields forrecipients of the message (the “To” and “Cc” fields), the subject of themessage (in this instance, automatically prefilled by a “Question”indicator as dictated by the original selection of the “ask a question”metadata value) as well as an attachment input field. An urgency inputselector 1018 is provided to allow a message creator to set an urgencyor priority level for the message using, in this instance, a drop downmenu. Further still, the combination of a references field 1020 andcorresponding add button 1022 allows a user to selectively addadditional information to the message, such as information concerningrelevant website addresses, contact people or content files. Each ofthese input mechanisms constitutes an additional source of metadatavalues that may be appended to the resulting message.

As noted previously, while the example of FIGS. 9 and 10 concerns anemail interface, similarly functioning interfaces may also be used todevelop templates for other communication modalities, such as theabove-mentioned IM, SMS or MMS channels using techniques known to thoseof skill in the art. Additionally, any combination of the input anddisplay mechanisms described above with regard to FIGS. 7-10 may beincorporated into a suitable plug-in component 106 that generates anappropriate interface within the corresponding main program for which itis designed, again using known implementation techniques. For example,in the context of a software development tool, an interface may beprovided that lists the same information shown in the discussion window724 described above. In this manner, a more effective presentation ofdevelopment-related communications may be provided.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a flowchart describing operation of a userterminal in accordance with another embodiment of the present inventionis further illustrated. As noted above, the operations illustrated inFIG. 12 may be implemented using stored, executable instructions thatcontrol operation of one or more suitable processors in a processingdevice such as a user terminal. Beginning at block 1202, at least onediscussion selection input mechanism is displayed on a display of theprocessing device. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 13, avariety of discussion items, representative of one or more messagesbetween users of the collaboration system, may be displayed in adiscussion window 724. In a presently preferred embodiment, each of thediscussion items is represented as a textual hyperlink 1302 therebyallowing a user of the device to select the text of one of therepresented discussions using, for example, a user input device such asa mouse and cursor combination. Those having skill in the art willappreciate that other mechanisms, both for displaying the discussionselection input mechanism and for selecting same, may be equallyemployed for this purpose.

Regardless of the manner in which the discussion selection inputmechanism is implemented, processing continues at block 1204 where theprocessing device receives a discussion selection input corresponding toone of the displayed discussion selection input mechanisms. In responseto the discussion selection input, additional information regarding theselected discussion is provided on the display, as described in furtherdetail below.

In accordance with the present invention, the information regarding theselected discussion may comprise either a text-based representation or agraphical illustration. For example, in a presently preferredembodiment, the selection input received at block 1204 causes atext-based representation (not shown in FIG. 13) to be displayed bydefault. As known in the art, the text-based representation may comprisea thread of the messages forming the discussion. Techniques fordisplaying such threads are well known in the art. However, further inaccordance with the present invention, a graphical context activationmechanism is also displayed as indicated by block 1206. As used herein,a graphical context activation mechanism may comprise anyuser-selectable mechanism that may be displayed on a display, such as ahyperlink, checkbox, pull-down menu item, etc. Selection, at block 1208,of the graphical context activation mechanism (using similar user inputdevices as described above) causes graphical illustration to bedisplayed, at block 1210, which graphical illustration includesinformation regarding the users relevant to the selected discussion.This is further illustrated in FIG. 13.

As shown, a targeted discussion 1302, represented as a hyperlink, may beselected using a cursor 1304 as described above. In response to thisselection input, a text-based representation (not shown) may bedisplayed in a suitable window 1306. The window 1306 preferably includesalternative display mechanisms: a textual context activation mechanism1314 and a graphical context activation mechanism 1316. Upon selectionof the graphical context activation mechanism 1316, a graphicalillustration 1308 is displayed in the window 1306 in accordance withknown techniques. In a presently preferred embodiment, the graphicalillustration 1308 comprises a geographical map such as a world map. Asthose of skill in the art will appreciate, the map employed for thispurpose may comprise a world map (as shown) or a smaller map focused ona specific region. It is further understood that the graphicalillustration 1308 may be represented in a variety of forms other than ageographical map, for example, an organization chart illustratingparticular users within the context of an organization hierarchy may beemployed. Further still, the graphical illustration 1308 may comprise avisual description of a related application about which users mayprovide feedback or commentary. Still further alternatives will beevident to those of skill in the art.

As shown, the map 1308 may include indicia of location of each of therelevant user, in this case illustrated by the “pins” labeled A throughD. For example, pin A indicates that a user is located in NorthernCalifornia; pin B indicates that another user is located in Mumbai,India; pin C indicates that yet another user is located in Paris,France; and pin D indicates that still another user is located inNorthern Illinois. Further selection 1310 of individual pins may causeadditional information 1312 regarding a specific user to be furtherdisplayed. In the example shown, the additional information 1312comprises an overlay window displaying information identifying the user(such as a name or a visual depiction of the user), relevant contactinformation as well as information concerning that user'scontribution(s) to the discussion, e.g., date of posting, text, etc. Inthis manner, the present invention enables context of a discussion to bequickly established in a graphical manner. Of course, other formsindicating location of respective users may be equally employed as amatter of design choice. For example, straight text listings divorcedfrom the map illustration may be used to identify user locations, useridentities, etc.

Referring once again to FIG. 12, processing continues at block 1212where a textual context activation mechanism is displayed, e.g., thetextual context activation mechanism 1314 illustrated in FIG. 13. Onceagain, the textual context activation mechanism 1314 may be implementedas a textual hyperlink, as shown, or using any other method known tothose of skill in the art. Regardless, when the textual contextactivation mechanism is selected, a textual context selection input isreceived by the processing device at block 1214 and, in response,text-based context, e.g., a textual display in the form of a discussionthread, is provided at block 1216. Using the textual and graphicalcontext activation mechanisms 1314, 1316, a user is able to switch backand forth, if desired, between graphical and textual context-providingrepresentations of the discussion, thereby enhancing contextualunderstanding.

As described above, the present invention provides a collaborationsystem that organizes communication channels between collaboration teammembers, builds context around communications between team members andprovides tools for better developing relationships betweencollaborators. In one aspect, this is achieved through the use ofgraphical/textual context activation mechanisms that allow a user todisplay a discussion between collaborators in a graphical or textualformat, thereby providing additional context. For at least thesereasons, the present invention represents an advancement over prior arttechniques.

While the particular preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen shown and described, various changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the teachings of the invention. For example,although the textual representation of a discussion is the preferreddefault when in response to a discussion selection input as describedabove, it is understood that the graphical representation could bedesignated as the default as a matter of design choice. It is thereforecontemplated that the present invention cover any and all modifications,variations or equivalents that fall within the scope of the basicunderlying principles disclosed above and claimed herein.

1. In a processing device having a graphical user interface including a display and at least one user input device, a method for establishing a context of a discussion between users of a collaboration system, the method comprising: displaying, on the display, a plurality of discussions between users of the collaboration system; selecting, via the at least one user input device, the discussion from the plurality of discussions; displaying, on the display, a graphical context activation mechanism associated with the discussion; receiving, via the at least one user input device, a selection input indicating that the graphical context activation mechanism has been selected; and displaying, based on the selection input, a graphical illustration of information regarding the users participating in the discussion, wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users comprises an organization chart illustrating at least one of the users in an organization hierarchy; wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users further comprises at least one pin on a geographical map indicating a location of at least one of the users; and wherein selection of the at least one pin causes display of an overlay window displaying information concerning at least one of the users' contact information and contribution to the discussion.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding the users further comprises indicia of identity of at least one of the users.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the indicia of identity of the users comprises visual depictions of at least one of the users.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying, on the display, a textual context activation mechanism associated with the discussion; receiving, via the at least one user input device, another selection input indicating that the textual context activation mechanism has been selected; and displaying, on the display based on the other selection input, a text-based context regarding the discussion.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the text-based context comprises at least a portion of the discussion.
 6. In a processing device having a graphical user interface including a display and at least one user input device, a method for establishing a context of a discussion between users of a collaboration system, the method comprising: displaying, on the display, a graphical context activation mechanism associated with the discussion; receiving, via the at least one user input device, a selection input indicating that the graphical context activation mechanism has been selected; displaying, based on the selection input, a graphical illustration of information regarding the users participating in the discussion; and displaying, on the display, at least one discussion selection input mechanism, wherein the at least one discussion selection input mechanism comprises indicia regarding at least one discussion, the indicia regarding the at least one discussion further comprising at least one of a plurality of priority levels associated with at least some of the at least one discussion, wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users comprises an organization chart illustrating at least one of the users in an organization hierarchy; wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users further comprises at least one pin on a geographical map indicating a location of at least one of the users; and wherein selection of the at least one pin causes display of an overlay window displaying information concerning at least one of the users' contact information and contribution to the discussion.
 7. An apparatus for use with a collaboration system, comprising: a display; at least one user input device; at least one processor in communication with the display and the at least one user input device; and a storage device, in communication with the at least one processor, having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: display, on the display, a plurality of discussions between users of the collaboration system; receive, via the at least one user input device, the discussion from the plurality of discussions; display, on the display, a graphical context activation mechanism associated with a discussion between users of the collaboration system; receive, via the at least one user input device, a selection input indicating that the graphical context activation mechanism has been selected; and display, based on the selection input, a graphical illustration of information regarding the users participating in the discussion, wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users comprises an organization chart illustrating at least one of the users in an organization hierarchy; wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users further comprises at least one pin on a geographical map indicating a location of at least one of the users; and wherein selection of the at least one pin causes display of an overlay window displaying information concerning at least one of the users' contact information and contribution to the discussion.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to display the graphical illustration are further operative to display indicia of identity of at least one of the users.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to display the indicia of identity are further operative to display visual depictions of at least one of the users.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the storage device further comprises executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: display, on the display, a textual context activation mechanism associated with the discussion; receive, via the at least one user input device, a selection input indicating that the textual context activation mechanism has been selected; and display, on the display based on the selection input, a text-based context regarding the discussion.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the text-based context comprises at least a portion of the conversation.
 12. An apparatus for use with a collaboration system, comprising: a display; at least one user input device; at least one processor in communication with the display and the at least one user input device; and a storage device, in communication with the at least one processor, having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: display, on the display, a graphical context activation mechanism associated with a discussion between users of the collaboration system; receive, via the at least one user input device, a selection input indicating that the graphical context activation mechanism has been selected; display, based on the selection input, a graphical illustration of information regarding the users participating in the discussion; and display, on the display, a discussion selection input mechanism, wherein the discussion selection input mechanism comprises indicia regarding at least one discussion, the indicia regarding the at least one discussion further comprising at least one of a plurality of priority levels associated with at least some of the at least one discussion, wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users comprises an organization chart illustrating at least one of the users in an organization hierarchy; wherein the graphical illustration of the information regarding the users further comprises at least one pin on a geographical map indicating a location of at least one of the users; and wherein selection of the at least one pin causes display of an overlay window displaying information concerning at least one of the users' contact information and contribution to the discussion. 